January 2022 - 2

An update on
the GYE grizzly bear
By Brian Nesvik
J
ust over a year ago Wyoming Wildlife devoted
an entire issue to telling the in-depth story
of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem. There's a reason the December 2020
issue took all 48 pages. It's a complex history
full of victories and setbacks never once told
by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in
one succinct publication. We did that so more
people could see the challenges Wyoming has
faced in our efforts to recover what I consider
the greatest apex species on the planet. Much
has happened since those pages were minted,
and I want to share with you an update on grizzly
bears in the GYE.
In 2021 grizzly bear populations abounded, further evidence of the
recovered population in the GYE and the urgent need for state wildlife
management. It was another busy year for on-the-ground conflicts,
relocations - and unfortunately - removals. Forty-five individual
bears were captured 49 times to resolve conflict situations in 2021. These
events resulted in 19 relocations and 29 lethal removals, the majority
of which occurred outside the Demographic Monitoring Area, which
is the area considered suitable for the long-term viability of grizzly
bears by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. No one likes to see these
data points trend upwards - it's not good for humans or grizzlies.
Bears are appearing in more places, too. One salient example of this
was in May when a grizzly bear was verified north of Viva Naughton
Reservoir near Kemmerer through remote camera photos. It was the
farthest south grizzly bears have been verified since well before recovery
efforts began in the 1970s and the second spring in a row a grizzly bear
has been confirmed in the southern Wyoming Range. The location is
approximately 65 miles south of the DMA. The second grizzly sighting
in the area is further evidence of a recovered - and growing - grizzly
bear population.
2 | January 2022
In Sept. 2021 Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced the
State of Wyoming would begin the process to once again gain state
management of grizzly bears in the GYE. The state is petitioning
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the GYE grizzly bear
population, following 46 years and more than $52 million in
investment from Wyoming. Grizzly bears, by all measures, have
been fully-recovered since 2003. I commend the governor's bold
steps to find the most expedient path forward to placing grizzly bear
management in the hands of the state.
Since that announcement Wyoming has been working diligently
to address all concerns raised by the courts in the previous listing.
In Nov. 2021 the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved
a revised tri-state Memorandum of Agreement between Wyoming,
Idaho and Montana regarding the management and allocation of
discretionary mortality of grizzly bears in the GYE.
The revised MOA recognizes the expanding number of grizzly
bears that have grown beyond the edges of the bear's biological and
socially suitable range. With refined population estimates, data
shows the population numbers more than 1,000 bears, far beyond
all scientific requirements for a recovered, viable population. The
updates also include an explicit commitment to the grizzly bear's
long-term genetic health and will provide for translocation of bears
into the population, as needed, to maintain genetic diversity.
The MOA needs approval from Idaho and Montana through
their respective commissions and directors before Wyoming files a
delisting petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As I write
this message, the MOA is on the desks of those in our sister states
poised for the next action.
State management is the right thing for bears, for people who live
and work among grizzlies and for the State of Wyoming. Game and
Fish has a strong track record managing other large carnivores like
black bears, mountain lions and gray wolves. These populations are
healthy, durable and thriving under state management. In the new
year I'm hopeful that we can finally progress past bureaucratic and
technical slowdowns in the federal government and the courts and
focus on science and the realities on-the-ground. With our most
recent actions we are renewing our vow - and commitment - to
long-term grizzly bear conservation in the best interest of the species
and the citizens of our state.
January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022
